Rheological and Textural Characterisation of Chickpea Dough and Baked 3D-Printed Snacks Enriched with Alphitobius diaperinus and Locusta migratoria Powders

Abstract

AbstractEdible insect powder is a new ingredient that can be used to create innovative functional and nutritional properties in food products. However, adding insect powder to bakery goods could impact the dough’s technological and sensory attributes. This study aims to investigate possible alterations in dough enriched with insect powder and examine the texture of salty snacks produced using a 3D food printer. The doughs were prepared using varying quantities of two types of edible insect powders. The stiff flow properties showed a pseudoplastic behaviour that fit well with a power-law equation. Viscosity and pseudoplasticity increased in proportion to insect powder concentration, with the strongest effect observed for L. migratoria. The linear viscoelastic behaviour exhibited G′ values exceeding G″ values, and both moduli increased with insect concentration. A. migratoria displayed a greater elastic contribution (lower tan δ) compared to A. diaperinus, which correlates with the lower printability of A. migratoria. The texture of the snacks prepared with A. diaperinus demonstrated a rise in the breaking force as the insect concentration increased and exhibited a corresponding texture profile to the control and the 4.6% sample. Moreover, the addition of A. diaperinus heightened the crispiness.